The Advantages of Homeschooling:Following Your Child's Interests

Here's where we find out the biggest advantages of
homeschooling.

For me, one of the best things about homeschool must be
the riot of children's pictures following me along the hall, the shiny
foil of Voyager's space probe peeking out of a bedroom and the eyeball lying half-constructed on the kitchen table.

If your child's never been to school then homeschool has to be the natural choice.

Even if you're following a set homeschool curriculum, you've got time in your homeschool schedule to follow your child's natural curiosity.

Now
I know I'm using the word 'natural' in a deliberately provocative way
(who said homeschool wasn't challenging?) but – let's face it – it's SCHOOL
which has to take the credit for being the artificial method society
has imposed to educate children en masse.

And probably schools do as
good a job as they can, given the constraints.

Our eyeball - just in case you don't believe me!

But with 30 or more children in a class how can even the most brilliant
teacher give each child the attention they deserve?

After
all, the key to successful learning doesn't require a PhD in
educational theory – just the common sense to know that if you're
interested in something you'll want to learn.

It's those delightful sparks of excitement and discovery that can so easily be smothered in a school environment.

After all, if my 5 year-old daughter, is pre-occupied with a typical childhood fascination: How a Cheetah does a poo – is the teacher going to have the time (or the inclination) to answer her?

Yet the explanation includes mammals, digestion, even continents. And that's the point.

If you follow an interest you’ll cover a homeschool syllabus that can take you light years beyond any pre-set level.

That's the same whatever the interest of the child, not to mention the many homeschool benefits which come from spending time together.

One of the greatest problems with school is that teachers are forced to squash all children into the same lump.

There is no alternative. Every child has to learn the same thing at the same time at roughly the same level.

And what about that vital missing element:

Who asked your child if they want to learn fractions today?

Put it another way:

How would you feel if I decided to teach you Ancient Greek?

Could
be you've been to Greece and always been fascinated by the Parthenon;
could be you'd rather not thanks and can't see the point anyhow.

Even with the best will in the world, school tends to make everything boring.

There are exceptional teachers, there are great schools, and there are pupils who come through and enjoy what they learn.

But there are many advantages of homeschooling which come from the freedom to do things your own way.

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